CROSS-BORDER SHOPPING IN POLAND IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY

Abstract

Cross-border shopping which has been analysed in this study was particularly intensive in the first years of the transformation period, and as the economic differences between Poland and her neighbours decreased the intensity of this phenomenon declined. Certain regional differences regarding the citizenship of the cross-border shoppers have been revealed. At Poland’s western border Germans prevailed among citizens crossing the border, and Polish citizens, too, constituted a sizeable proportion. Poland’s southern border was mainly crossed for shopping purposes by Polish citizens, and Czechs and Slovaks also came in large numbers. Among persons crossing the eastern border the largest group consisted of the citizens of the neighbouring countries; there was also a certain number of the Poles and persons from the remaining countries which emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Among persons crossing the air and maritime borders the most sizeable group consisted of the Poles and of the citizens of West European and non-European countries.